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JobsCentral employees recognised as top IT developers in Singapore

Two winners of the Digital Life Top Developers Award come from JobsCentral, Singapore’s fastest growing job portal. We speak to Eric Koh and Eko Pranoto to find out the secrets behind their success.

By Nabilah Husna A. Rahman

The inaugural Singapore’s Successful IT Developers Award Ceremony was held at the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Auditorium yesterday. Organised by The Straits Times’ Digital Life, the awards are aimed at recognising IT talents behind various technological developments.

Digital Life brought together 26 of its Top Developer winners, along with various industry players from IBM, Microsoft, RedHat and Hewlett-Packard, to celebrate the software applications produced by these backroom innovators.

The 26 award winners were selected from a total of 50 submissions, based on three primary judging criterions: the impact of the software applications produced, the developers’ direct involvement in its production, and the comments provided by the referees of the applicants.

While still at its initial stage of progress, Digital Life editor Grace Chng expressed her hopes that the next IT Developers Awards will attract an even larger number of top local developers.

Two of the winners, Eric Koh and Eko Pranoto, were honoured for developing widely used applications for JobsCentral and sister company JobsFactory.

Behind the scenes at JobsCentral

Eric developed the JobsCentral Network Portal, which includes JobsCentral.com.sg and 17 affiliate career portals, while managing and fueling the overall data involved in making the system run smoothly. In layman terms, he helps JobsCentral users find and apply for their preferred jobs in a convenient and enjoyable way.

“I was exhilarated about the win, especially since Eko has been named a Top Developer as well,” says Eric.

As IT Director, Eric manages a working team of 10 IT professionals, researches on new technology and developments in the field, develops new codes and improves the older ones, involves himself in the strategic planning for the company, as well as manages the data center of JobsCentral.com.sg.

With a multitude of responsibilities, Eric acknowledges that team effort is crucial for a smooth-running system. “I’ve to thank the entire IT and JobsCentral team for the award,” says Eric humbly. “Without them, this wouldn’t be possible.”

His application development did not come without its challenges, some of which included “designing an architecture that supports the multiple portals that JobsCentral comprises of, scaling the application via code optimisation and forming a good team”.

Eric attributes his secrets to success as such: “Being passionate about my work, and treating coding both as a science as well as an art. There are thus elements of logic, creativity, rigor and pride.”

Igniting BrightSparks

Meanwhile, Eko also had his share of time in the limelight during the awards ceremony, after developing JobsFactory’s BrightSparks scholarship portal in 2004, which has since been used by 50,000 scholarship seekers.

The BrightSparks scholarship portal allows students to search and apply for their preferred scholarships using one convenient platform, without going through the hassle of multiple applications.

“My job includes gathering user requirements, proposing new methods and technologies to improve current products, and software design and development,” Eko explains. “I really enjoy what I do.”

Like many others, Eko has had his eye on his field of interest for the longest time. “I’ve always been interested in math and logic problems,” he reveals. “I started to learn programming since young. In university, I was involved in this field and I enjoyed it, which made me want to join the field.”

With a Digital Life Top Developers Award under his belt, Eko sees himself constantly improving in terms of product-making, and “making it a better experience for the users”.

“I hope there will be more people interested in IT development, and can produce good applications,” he shares. “In the end, it can benefit all aspects of our lives.”